What is a Poem?

Poems can be said to be a careful, inventive, or creative consideration of words written to convey some thought as a literary arrangement. Usually, but not always, the words written are designed to evoke emotion. A poem can manifest itself as a two-word phrase, spoken word, or a one-thousand-page book.

The word poem comes from the Greek poíema, meaning a "thing made." When they are well written, poems go much deeper than the words on a page. The ability to use written words to create images and feelings in the audience marks the skills of a great poet. Much like sculptors have stone and painters have a canvas, a poet's medium for expressive art is writing a poem. Poems are fine art using language, but they are also a state of mind.

When many people think of a poem, they often think of rhythm and flow. While this is a widely known and accepted form, many types of poems do not rhyme or follow any direct rules. Some of the greatest and well-loved poets in history pushed the limits and broke the mold of what was considered acceptable prose. Instead, we should consider the ability of those words to speak to us, to make us feel something, rather than what rules they follow.

Also, when something from any art medium stirs feelings and emotions, giving your imagination freedom to roam and consider new possibilities, it is deemed to be poetical. For example, dance performance can be called poetical for showing rhythm and creating strong feelings by using music and movement. The artists or dancers, in this case, can help control your emotion and the emotion in the room.

So, poems are a form of art in which expression is used to reveal, interpret, or express things that would otherwise be difficult to express. Poems move, speak and are written. Whether life, love, nature, or humor, a poem has been used to interpret it. What experience cannot express, a poem does. What passion cannot articulate, a poem does. What nature and humor cannot say, a poem does in a way that does not duplicate, but compliments. A poem is an interpreter of life.